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U.K. geographers have mapped where German bombs fell throughout London during the eight-month Blitz in World War II. About 20,000 people were killed in the city and some 20,000 others died elsewhere in Britain during the German bombing campaign, which took place in 1940 and 1941. "It seems astonishing that London survived the onslaught," said Kate Jones, a geographer at the University of Portsmouth.

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Students sometimes expect academic requirements to be relaxed when they participate in study-abroad programs, but rigor is necessary to help them make the most of the experience, according to William G. Moseley, professor of geography at Macalester College. "If you are a faculty member looking to take a group of students overseas, get the necessary training and make sure you have the place-relevant research background to be a competent study-abroad instructor," he writes in this blog post.

Globalization, the spread of technology and the decline of labor unions are combining to suppress wages for workers in rich and poor nations alike, according to a report by the U.N.'s International Labor Organization. Wages have stagnated or fallen despite gains in worker productivity, the report said, resulting in "a smaller piece of the pie for workers."

Arctic wildfires produced smoke and soot particles that may have contributed to the melting of the Greenland ice sheet, according to research using satellite imagery. Soot can contribute to melting by making ice less reflective. "Soot is a very powerful absorber," said Jason Box, a geographer at Ohio State University. "Very small increases in soot content have big increases in solar absorption."

An invasive species of grass known as cheatgrass has been linked to many of the largest forest fires in states such as Nevada, California and Oregon, according to research by Jennifer Balch, an assistant professor of geography at Penn State University. "What's happening is that cheatgrass is creating a novel grass-fire cycle that makes future fires more likely," she said. "Fire promotes cheatgrass, and cheatgrass promotes fires."

A California geographer who works in tech support for Esri has created an interactive tool that allows users to observe how Pittsburgh has changed since 1835. The geographer, Chris Olsen, scanned historical plat maps to put together the tool, which includes information boxes about noteworthy sites. "I am a big fan of history, and looking at historical maps was always fun for me," Olsen said.